Belts may be manufactured with or without marking indicia. Marking indicia may comprise labels, text or other material impressed or printed directly on the belt or a combination of the foregoing.
More particularly, the prior art teaches use of a non-vulcanized colored rubber which is adhered to a base material. During vulcanization the colored rubber is imprinted upon the underlying material. This often results in distorted markings or undesirable surface features, such as dips of bumps. Such dips or bumps can cause noise during operation of the belt. It is also known that a laser may be used to apply a mark to a belt by burning or etching a mark in a product surface.
Representative of the art is Japanese Patent No. 3126937 which discloses a method for marking a belt.
What is needed is a belt and a method of marking a belt using a polyethylene layer that is optically distinguishable from a belt body. What is needed is a belt and a method of marking a belt using an optically distinguishable polyethylene layer etched by a laser light. The present invention meets these needs.